Clay cutting device



Feb. 9, 1937.

CLAY CUTTING DEVICE e fave/:for

E. FREY i 2,069,948

Feb. 9, 1937. E. FREY CLAY CUTTING'DEVICE Filed March 7, 1955 -2Sheets-Sheet 2 may.

Patented Feb. 9, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE Application March 7,1935, Serial No. 9,756 In Switzerland October 6, 1934 15 Claims.

My invention relates to clay cutters and more especially to an automaticclay cutting device adapted for combination and cooperation with a pressextruding the clay under the form of a skein. As a rule devices of thiskind are provided with wires serving to cut through the skein of clay todivide ofi prismatic blanks adapted to be converted into bricks byburning and in the particular kind of devices here in view the cuttingwires, after having cut through the skein, must be returned to theirinitial position for a new cutting operation.

In cutting devices of this kind the cutting wires must be stopped afterhaving cut through the skein, in order to allow the blanks to be removedfirst, before the wires can be returned into their operative position.

It is an object of my invention to provide means whereby theunsatisfactory stopping of the cutting wires can be avoided, the devicebeing formed, in a known manner, as a carriage having a plurality ofcutting wires mounted thereon and being moved by separate driving meansat a velocity corresponding to the velocity of feed of the skein.

In accordance with the present invention I avoid the necessity ofstopping the cutting wires before removal of the cut of blanks bydisplacing part or all of the wires as well as the4 supports for theblanks in the direction of rfeed in such manner that the wires can bereturned to their operative position between the blanks after theselatter have been spaced from each other.

In the drawings afxed to this specication and forming part thereof anembodiment of my invention is illustrated diagrammatically by way ofexample.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is an elevation,

Fig. 2 a plan view,

Fig. 3 an end view, partly in vertical section,

Figs. 4 and 5 are a vertical cross section and plan view, respectively,of the wire holders, drawn to a larger scale, and

Figs. 6 and 'l are cross sections of the supports of two individualwires.

Fig. 8 is a perspective View of some blank supporting plates togetherwith the mechanism for displacing same.

Fig. 9 is a cross section illustrating a detail of the drivingmechanism,

Fig. 10 is a part elevation of a modification in which ive ,cuttingwires, instead of only four as shown in Figs. 1 to 9, are provided.

Fig. 11 is a diagram illustrating the sequence of operations which thedevice shown in Figs. 1 to 9 is going through during each scale.

Referring to the drawings and first to Figs. 1 to 9, I and 2 are theside frames supporting the carriage, these frames being rigidlyconnected by cross bars 3. 4 is the carriage carrying the cutters, thiscarriage being supported on the frames I and 2 by means of rollers 5.Two cross beams 'l extending in contact with the bottom of the carriagesupport guide bars 6, the upper ends of which are connected by a frame1a. 8, 8 are two cutter beams formed with sleeves 8a embracing the guidebars 6 for vertical reciproca-v tion thereon, one such cutter bar beingpositioned on each side of the skein 9 of clay and of the carriage. Onthese two cutters bars the cutting wires are mounted, their ends beingiixed to holders illustrated in detail in Figs. 4 to 7. I0 is thecylindrical part of a holder, which extends through a boring of one ofthe cutter bars 8 and is formed at its outer end with an angle Il; inthe free arm of which is secured a swivel I2 for stretching the wire. I3is another angular member xed to the holder substantially at rightangles to the member I I and serving as a means for rocking the holderthrough a predetermined angle, as will be explained in detail furtherbelow. The inner end of the cylindrical part of the holder carries aU-shaped member I4. Four such holders are here located in each cutterbar 8 and the cutting wires I5 extend across the carriage from oneswivel I2 and member I4 to the corresponding members of thecorresponding holder mounted in the cutter bar on the other side of thecarriage, the'wires extending through central borings of the cylindricalparts I and eccentrically across the depending arms I4 of the membersI4, which are formed with notches Bl). In view of this arrangement ofthe wires their operative portions, which extend across the carriage andserve for cutting off the blanks, are located eccentrically to the axisof the cylindrical portions Ill of their holders and consequently, lfthe holders are rocked in the cutter bars 8, the cutting Wires willexecute an angular movement, whereby they will change their positionrelative to the plane through which they had been moved when cutting ofia blank. As shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the eccentricity of the outermostwire holders Illa and Md (Fig. 1) is greater than in the inner wireholders Mb and IIIe. This is also shown in Fig. 4, where the wire Idrawn in full lines illustrates the position of the wires held in theholders Mb and I4c,'whi1e the wire drawn in dot and dash`Y linesillustrates the position of the wires held by the holders I4a and I4d.

The angular members or checks I3 of the holders I 4a. and I4?) extend tothe left, those of the holders I4c and I4d to the right (Fig. 1). Bows I6 for rocking the holders are mounted below and above the carriage, thetop bows being fixed in the frame 1ct, the bottom bows in the crossbeams 1h. The ends I1 of the bows extend into the path of the angularmembers or checks I3 of the holders and will cause them to rock one wayor the other, when the cutter bars 8 are moved vertically one way or theother.

The free end of the skein of clay and the blanks cutting off this skeinare supported on plates I8 to 22. The supporting plates 20 and 22 arefixedly mounted on vthe carriage 4; the supporting plates I8, I9 and 2!are movably secured thereto. I-Sa is an angular piece connecting plateI9 to a movable rail 23 (Fig. 8), 2Id is another angle piece connectingplate 2I to another rail 24. The two rails are supported in U-shapedguide pieces 25 mounted laterally on the carriage 4. One end of eachrail 23, 24 is acted upon by compression springs 26, the other end bypins 21 which are acted upon by a rock plate 28 carrying a pin 30 whichextends into a notch 29 of the movable supporting plate I8. The rockplate 28 is fixed to a horizontal shaft 3I carrying a. lever arm 32, thefree end of which is connected by means of a link 33 to the lever arm 34mounted on a rock shaft 35 which extends across the machine frame andthe free end of which carries another lever arm 36 which is connected bya rod 31 to the arm 38 of the main shaft 39, which rotates in thedirection of the arrow 52. On the rock shaft 35 are further mounted twoarms 40 (Fig. 1), each of which is connected by a link 4I to one of thetwo cutter bars 8.

The arm 34 is mounted on the shaft 35 between a fixed flange 43 and anadjustable ring 42 (Fig. 9), being held between these two members with acertain friction, which causes it to follow the angular movements of theshaft 35, until it' meets one of the stops 44 and 45. Thus the lever arm34 can move only between these two stops, no matter what angle the shaft35 is rocked through by the main shaft 39, crank arm 38, connecting rod31 and arm 36.

The carriage is moved by a cam 46 fixed to the main shaft 39, the arm 48of a double-armed lever 48, 49 carrying a roller 41 in contact with thecam 46, while the free end of the lever arm 49 is connected with thecarriage by a link 50. One end of the carriage is acted upon by atension spring I, which tends to return the carriage to its position ofrest and at the same time causes the roller 41 to apply itself to thecam 45. The skein 9 of clay, which is extruded from the press (notshown) moves in the direction of the arrow 53. It is supported by thebelt conveyer 54 which controls by means of the belt 55 the frictioncoupling 56 driven by a belt 51 in such manner, that the main shaft 39of the cutting device is rotated, in synchronism with the feed of theskein of clay, with an additional force supplied to it by way of thefriction coupling 56. This coupling is thus instrumental in permanentlyadapting the number of revolutions of the main shaft to thevelocity offeed, at the time being, of the skein of clay.

This latter, after having passed over the conveyer belt 54, is oiled bymeans of an oil cylinder mounted in the stationary supporting plate 22and is then fed to the cutting device.

The operation of this device is as follows:

Whenever the skein of clay has been fed forward onto the displaceablesupporting plate I8 by a distance equal to the width of a blank, theroller 41 of the lever 48, 49 is forced downwardly by an ascendingportion of the cam 46 and the cutter carriage is now moved forwardly insynchronism with the clay feedl At the same time the cutter bars 8 aremoved downwardly together with the cutting wires, cutting through theclay and dividing off four blanks A, B, C, and D. Having cut through theskein of clay they are moved on until they have reached their lowermostposition. During this movement the angular members or checks I3 of thewire holders I4 have met the upwardly projecting ends I1 of the bows I6mounted below the carriage and the wire holders have been rocked therebythrough different angles. The wire holders I4a. which direct their wirebelow the joint between the blanks C and D are turned clockwise andinwardly. The wire holders I4b` are turned in the same sense, howeverhere, owing to the smaller eccentricity of the wire, this latter isrocked through a smaller angle. The wire holders I 4c, which are carriedbelow the joint between the blanks A and B, is rocked anticlockwise, themember I3 being here directed to the right and consequently they wiremounted on these holders is also rocked to the right. A similar movementis imparted to the wire holders I4d, howeverin view of the greatereccentrioity of the wire mounted thereon this wire is rocked throughagreater angle.

In this manner the cutting wires are displaced relative to their cuttingplanes and are at the same time spaced farther from each other. Thisangular movement of the cutting wires is imparted to them during thelatter part of the downward movement of the cutter bars 8. As soon asthe cutter bars start rising again from their lowermost position, themovable supporting plates I8, I9 and 2i are displaced simultaneously inhorizontal direction by means of the lever 34 which moves from itsuppermost position, in

contact with the stop 44, to its lowermost posi-r tion, in contact withthe stop 45. While the other parts including the shaft 35 continue intheir angular movement, the lever 34 being arrested by the stop 45 willglide on the shaft 35 under friction. During this angular movement oflever 34 towards stop 45 the plate 28 has been rocked from the positionshown in Fig. l into a position, where its pin 30 has moved thesupporting plate I8 towards the left, while at the same time the twopins 21 cause the rail 23 to be shifted to the left, rail 24 to theright, whereby the supporting plate 2I has been shifted to the right,plate I9 to the left. Since the supporting plate 20 fixed to thecarriage 4 has not changed its position, the plates I9 and 2! have beenspaced from plate 20 and plate I8 from plate I9, gaps having been formedbetween the plates and the blanks supported thereon, which allow thecutting wires I5 to pass freely between the plates and blanks when beingreturned into their operative position.

Before the cutting wires start on this return movement, the movement ofthe carriage 4 is accelerated by the slightly ascending surface of cam46, whereby a gap is formed between-the leading end of the skein of clayand the still unseparated group of blanks. Before the wires enter thegapsbetween the blanks, the feed movement of the carriage has becomeequal again to that of the skein of clay.

As soon as the cutting wires have passed through between the blanks andskein, the carriage starts on its return movement, being acted upon bythe tension springs 5I, since now the roller 4l has reached thedescending part of the cam 4B. During this time the skein is fed throughthe length of four groups of blanks and the blanks just Cut off areshifted to the left by the skein to be conveyed further by a conveyingdevi-ce (not shown).

In the meantime the cutting wires have passed through their uppermostposition, after having been set to their operative positions by the endsI1 of the top bows I6 meeting their check members I3. Directlythereafter the supporting plates I8, I9 and 2| are also returned intotheir normal positions by an angular movement of shaft 35 in theopposite direction and by the upwardly directed movement of the link 33,so that all the parts are in position for another cutting operation.

In the modification illustrated in Fig. l0 an odd number of cuttingwires (five) 58, 59, 6E), 6I and B2 is provided, so that here ve blanksE, F, G, H, J are cut off, the supporting plates being marked 63, 64,65, 66. Here the middle wire and the two supporting plates 64 and B5adjoining it may be stationary relative to the carriage. Since gaps areformed on either sides of the blanks F and G, the wire 6U entering frombelow into the joint between the blanks F and G is capable of slightlydisplacing these blanks on their stationary plates 64 and 65,respectively, to the extent of being able to freely rise between them.

As shown in the diagram of Fig. 11, the sequence of the severaloperations of a cycle is the following:

a illustrates the starting of the cutting operation, i. e. the moment atwhich the cutting wires come in Contact with the skein of clay.

a-b illustrates the period of time, during which the wires cut throughthe clay, while at the same time the carriage is fed forwards inaccordance with the velocity of the skein of clay at the time being.

b marks the moment at which the cutting wires emerge from the clay.

c-cZ illustrates the period of time during which the wires are impartedtheir angular movement, being at the same time spaced from each other.

d marks the lowermost position of the cutting wires and the moment whenthey enter on their return movement.

cZ--e marks the period of time during which the supporting plates aredisplaced horizontally, whereby these plates as well as the severalblanks of the group of blanks are spaced increasingly from each other.

c-e illustrates the period of time during which the carriage leads about6 millimetres relative to the skein of clay in order to provide room forthe formation of gaps between the blanks, which starts at d.

f-g illustrates the period of time during which the cutting wires returnthrough the gaps between the blanks. During this time the carriage isfed with the same velocity as the skein of clay.

At g the carriage starts on its return movement into the initialposition, this movement coming to an end at a.

From h to i the cutting wires are rocked back into their operativepositions.

At i the wires have reached their uppermost position, the carriage stillcontinuing its return movement.

From z' to lc the supporting plates are returned into their initialposition.

At a the carriage is once more started on its feed movement and a newcutting operation is initiated, the wires having already been carriedinto contact with the top edge of the skein of clay.

I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to theexact details of construction shown and described for obviousmodifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

In the claims affixed to this specification no selection of anyparticular modication of the invention is intended to the exclusion ofother modifications thereof and the right to subsequently make claim inthe present application to any modication not covered by these claims isexpressly reserved.

I claim:-

1. Automatic clay cutting device comprising in combination, clay feedingmeans, a carriage, a plurality of cutters arranged for reciprocation atsubstantially right angles to said carriage and automatically operativemeans for angularly displacing part of said cutters between two cuttingoperations in the direction of feed. v

2. Automatic clay cutting device comprising in combination, clay feedingmeans, a carriage, a plurality of cutters arranged for reciprocation atsubstantially right angles to said carriage, clay supports, andautomatically operative means for angularly displacing part of saidcutters and said supports between two cutting operations in thedirection of feed.

3. Automatic clay cutting device comprising in combination, clay feedingmeans, a carriage, means for moving said carriage in the direction offeed, a plurality of cutters arranged for reciprocation at substantiallyright angles to said carriage and automatically operative means forangularly displacing part of said cutters between two cutting operationsin the direction of feed.

4. Automatic clay cutting device comprising in combination, clay feedingmeans, a carriage, a plurality of cutters arranged for reciprocation atsubstantially right angles to said carriage and automatically operativemeans for angularly displacing part of said cutters through diiferentdistances between two cutting operations in the direction of feed.

5. Automatic clay cutting device comprising in combination, clay feedingmeans, a carriage, a plurality of cutters arranged for reciprocation atsubstantially right angles to said carriage, clay supports, andautomatically operative means for angularly displacing part of saidcutters and said supports through diiferent distances between twocutting operations in the direction of feed.

6. Automatic clay cutting device comprising in combination, clay feedingmeans, a carriage, a pair of cutting beams arranged for reciprocation atsubstantially right angles to said carriage, a plurality of cutterholders secured in each beam for rocking motion about their axes, acutter Xed eccentrically to each holder and automatically operativemeans for rocking said holders to move part of said cutters in thedirection of feed.

7. Automatic clay cutting device comprising in combination, clay feedingmeans, a carriage, a pair of cutting beams arranged for reciprocation atsubstantially right angles to said carriage,

a plurality of cutter holders secured in each beam for rocking motionabout their aXes, cutters xed to said holders and spaced differentlyfrom the axes of their holders, and automatically operative means forrocking said holders to move part of said cutters in the direction offeed.

8. Automatic clay cutting device comprising in combination, clay feedingmeans, a carriage, a pair of cutting beams arranged for reciprocation atsubstantially right angles to said carriage, a plurality of cutterholders secured in each beam for rocking motion about their axes,cutters fixed to said holders and spaced differently from the axes oftheir holders, and automatically operative means including two stops forrocking said holders to move part of said cutters in the direction offeed and vice versa.

9. Automatic clay cutting device comprising in combination, clay feedingmeans, a carriage, a plurality of cutters arranged for reciprocation atsubstantially right angles to said carriage, clay supports,automatically operative means for angularly displacing part of saidcutters and said supports between two cutting operations in thedirection of feed, and additional stationary clay supports.

10. Automatic clay cutting device comprising in combination, clayfeeding means, a carriage, a plurality of cutters arranged forreciprocation at substantially right angles to said carriage, claysupports and automatically operative means comprising afriction-operated lever for angularly displacing part of said cuttersand said supports between two cutting operations in the direction offeed.

11. Automatic clay cutting device comprising in combination, a carriage,clay blank supporting means, a plurality of cutters and means fordisplacing said cutters and part of said clay blank supporting meansafter a cutting operation relative to said carriage so that the cut-offblanks will be spaced from each other and the cutters rendered free torise in the gaps separating the blanks.

12. Automatic clay cutting device comprising in combination, a carriage,clay blank supporting means, a plurality of cutters, cutter holders,means for angularly moving part of said cutter holders in the directionof feed between two cutting operations and means for displacing saidclay blank supporting means after a cutting operation relative to saidcarriage so that the cut-off blanks will be spaced from each other andthe cutters rendered free to rise in the gaps separating the blanks.

13. Automatic clay cutting device comprising in combination, a carriage,clay blank supporting means, a plurality of cutters, cutter holders,means for angularly moving part of said cutter holders through differentdistances in the direction of feed between two cutting operations andmeans for displacing said clay blank supporting means after a cuttingoperation relative to said carriage so that the cut-off blanks will bespaced from each other and the cutters rendered free to rise in the gapsseparating the blanks.

14. Automatic clay cutting device comprising in combination, a carriage,clay blank supporting means, a plurality of cutters, means fordisplacing said cutters and part of said clay blank supporting meansafter a cutting operation relative to said carriage so that the cut-01Tblanks will be spaced from each other and the cutters rendered free torise in the gaps separating the blanks and means for returning saidcutters and said blank supporting means into their initial positions.

15. Automatic clay cutting device comprising in combination, a carriage,clay blank supporting means, an uneven number of cutters and means fordisplacing said cutters and part of said clay blank supporting meanssave the middle cutter after a cutting operation relative to saidcarriage so that the cut-off blanks will be spaced from each other andthe cutters rendered free to rise in the gaps separating the blanks.

ERNST FREY.

